File: "FEMINISTSF LOG9809E" ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 01:41:06 -0700 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Joyce Jones Subject: BDG Nominations These are my nominations for books to come and reviews from different sources. Joyce A Fisherman of the Inland Sea Ursula LeGuin Reviews Synopsis A collection of stories highlight such objects of the imagination as a starship that sails on the wings of song, musical instruments that are played at funerals only, and orbiting arks designed to save a doomed humanity. Reprint. PW. Synopsis The only SF writer to win the National Book Award, not to mention the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy awards, Ursula K. Le Guin has created a profound and transformational literature. These stories range from the everyday to the outer limits of experience, where the quantum uncertainties of space and time are resolved only in the depths of the human heart. HC: HarperPrism. Four Ways to Forgiveness Ursula LeGuin Reviews Science Fiction and Fantasy Editor's Recommended Book Ursula K. Le Guin revisits her popular Hainish universe with four interconnected stories that together weave a tapestry of revolution and political turmoil. Le Guin tells the tale of two worlds where decades of slavery and class distinction are about to come to an end. She begins at the end with the story of a woman who survived the perilous times and now must face what comes after. Then in turn come tales of a naive envoy, an aloof observer forced to choose sides, and a young slave who wins freedom, only to confront the bonds of her own mind. Woman On the Edge Of Time Marge Piercy >From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith With honest and compelling prose, Marge Piercy delves into the mind of thirty-seven-year-old Consuelo (Connie) Ramos, a woman who exists on the fringes of life in contemporary New York City. Early in the novel Connie beats up her niece's pimp and is committed - again - to the psychiatric ward in Bellevue Hospital. The novel shifts between the horrible conditions in psychiatric wards and the year 2137, as Connie at first talks to, then time travels with Luciente, a person from that future time. Luciente lives in a non-sexist, communal country where people's survival is ensured based on need, not money. A sense of freedom, choice, and safety are part of Luciente's world; Connie's world is the complete opposite. Though Connie struggles to stand up for herself and others in the treatment centers, she knows that the drugs she is forced to take weaken her in every way. She knows she shouldn't be there, knows how to play the game, and tells herself "You want to stop acting out. Speak up in Tuesday group therapy (but not too much and never about staff or how lousy this place was) and volunteer to clean up after the others." But she knows she is stuck. Connie spends more time "away" with Luciente, trying to develop a way out of her hell. Ultimately Connie makes her plan of action, and the book leaves us with our own questions about Connie's insanity and decisions. The Furies Author: Charnas, Suzy McKee Overview: This is the tale of Alldera a slave in the Holdfast, where women are not women but fems, and all fems are the slaves of all men. Alldera escapes to the land of the Riding Women, where men are nothing more than a shadow threat in the foothills, and the Women live their own lives of horse-theft and adventure. Now Alldera leads a band of Free Fems back to the Holdfast, to the land of their nightmares, to overtake their old masters. --from the front flap. HC, 383 pages. Female Man Joanna Russ (from our own science fiction page) No discussion of the 1970s wave of feminist utopias is complete without a mention ofThe Female Man (1975). This simultaneously hilarious and angry novel is based on the premise of alternate worlds. Its four protagonists share identical genes, but have developed into four very different women according to their environments. Jeannine, who lives in an economically depressed United States, is the most oppressed and unhappy character; the only life for a woman in her world is marriage, and she both longs for and dreads that destiny. Joanna (a fictionalized version of Russ) comes from a world familiar to the novel's readers -- America, 1969, with second-wave feminism on the move. Joanna has more choices than Jeannine, but she is still expected to orient herself around men and is constantly being told "women can't" or "women don't".... She longs to be something other than a woman and tries her hand at becoming a female man. Janet represents the ideal, a woman who grew up with no gender-based constraints on her life and thus developed her full human potential. She hails from the utopia Whileaway, a world in which all the men were killed off centuries ago in a plague (or, in a different version of the story, a war). Joanna wistfully calls Janet a woman "whom we don't believe in and whom we deride but who is in secret our savior from utter despair." Jael brings the other Js together in her world, a near future in which men and women wage a cold war. Jael's experience of being a woman is much like Joanna's, but her response is violence. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 03:43:45 -0700 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Joyce Jones Subject: BDG nominations I'd like to second the nomination for The Family Tree. It's really time we got a Sheri Tepper novel in. The Family Tree by Sheri Tepper Amazon.com This technically polished novel ingeniously combines elements from traditional quests, fables, and novels. A seemingly rhetorical question is posed in chapter 1: Why did sociable, smart Dora Henry marry cold, controlling Jared Gerber? But that question is the key to the book and to the parallel stories told by Sheri Tepper. The sets of characters unravel their separate puzzles until all become different aspects of the same web of events, shaking the reader's, and Dora's, perceptions to the core. Tepper's linguistic sleight-of-hand with metaphor and image is breathtaking; her storytelling is deft and funny; her characters are memorable and sympathetic. Topical, mythical, archetypal, and provocative, this is a book no fantasy or science fiction reader should miss. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title Also, it's time we got to Octavia Butler. How about Wild Seed? This is from the back of the book: He could not die: Doro was a mind force who changed bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex--or design. He roamed Earth, gathering the genetic Wild Seed: the tormented, mad thought-readers, seers, and witches. Some he helped. Some he destroyed. But Doro bred, ruled. owned them all. He feared no one--until he met Anyanwu. She could not be killed: Anyanwu was an old woman, a young woman, a man, a leopard, an eagle, a dolphin--shapeshifter. She could absorb bullets and make medicine with a kiss. She gave birth to tribes, she nurtured and healed--but Anyanwu would savage any who threatened those she loved. She feared no one--until she met Doro. Together they were locked in a war of wills. From the African jungles to the colonies of America, Doro and Anyanwu were the father, mother, and gods of an awesome, unborn race. And their love and hate wove a Pattern of destiny that not even immortals could imagine... ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:29:14 0100 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Petra Mayerhofer Subject: BDG Nomination MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT A look on my TBR pile yesterday evening reminded me to nominate another book: Dorothy Bryant: The Kin of ATA Are Waiting for You. Paperback, Reprint edition (April 1997), Random House (Paper); ISBN: 0679778438, List Price: $11.95 2 synopses on Amazon: Synopsis 1: A car crash causes a young writer to journey into a dream world, where, for three weeks, he encounters people from the island of Ata and embarks on a series of adventures, accompanied by a woman seeking spiritual and sexual enlightenment. Reprint. Synopsis 2: Part love story, part utopian fantasy, part spiritual fable, The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You is "a beautiful, symbolic journey of the soul" (Berkeley Monthly). Into the world of the Ata comes a desperate man, running from a fast life of fame and fortune, drugs and crime. He is led by the kin of Ata on a spiritual journey that, sooner or later, we all must take. Petra P.S.: The nominations (with recommendations) so far can be looked up at http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/Garden/4667/bdg_nom.htm ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 19:36:28 +0100 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Sharon Clark Subject: BDG Nomination: THE FEMALE MAN Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I second Mike Stanton's nomination of THE FEMALE MAN by Joanna Russ. I was very disappointed and bewildered to see that this book had been removed from the reading list of the American Women Authors course taking place at my university (University of Leiden) next semester--a course which I am going to be taking. The last time the course was held, a little over a year ago, the book was on the list. This means that I won't have an opportunity to discuss this book in a classroom situation (yet). So, I'd love to have it discussed as part of the BDG! -Sharon ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 09:16:44 -0400 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Joe Sanders Subject: Sheri S. Tepper Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Friends, The September 1998 issue of _Locus_ has an interview with Sheri S. Tepper. It's also on their website, www.locusmag.com Joe Sutliff Sanders ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 09:22:24 -0500 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Tessa Vaughn Subject: BDG: Nomination MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I'd like to nominate: Beauty by Sheri Tepper -- This is a gorgeous story about Beauty, she who was supposed to be sleepy for a hundred years. By a bit of luck she escapes her fate to become an independent, outrageous woman. I particularly love the intertwining of a handful or our fairytales with a bit of a twist. She refuses over and over again to fit into the role of passive and meek princess, waiting to be saved. instead she saves herself, as well as the Fair Ones. Great fantasy Gibbon's Decline and Fall also by Sheri Tepper. -- This takes place in a modern America, albeit a darker and more depressing one. It centers around a group of middle-aged women bound together from their college days. these women represent the many different roles a woman may undertake: from the independent Carolyn to meek housewife Betty to Sophy, mystery woman who has disappeared. Although she is not in most of the book, Sophy's presence (and lack thereof) haunts the other women who try to find out who she was. In the process, discovering a horrifying conspiracy that threatens to undermine the already delicate gender relations. Occasionally this book can be a bit hokey but I liked a lot of the questions it raises about gender. One thing I got out of this book was an even stronger belief that there are many more genders than two. I have to admit to occasionally wincing at the way she treats men, but then she is almost as harsh with the women. Still, I think that this book would spawn a great deal of discussion. I would also like to add my voice on the nomination of Jaran by Kate Elliott. I absolutely loved Tess because she grows throughout the book from someone of little confidence in herself to a woman who is very aware of her strengths and doesn't hesitate to follow what she believes in. Someone has already talked about Jaran's interesintg gender roles. To add to that, it's interesting what happens when the space-enabled human population meets up with the Jaran. unfortunately, there isn't room to discuss the whole series because when you get to the fourth book (and I think books that haven't been written yet will go further into detail) there is the interesting gender relations of the alien race (I can't remember the name right now, sorry). In them, women have absolutely no power and are considered "nameless". At least, that's what Tess and every other human believes.... In the fourth book though, elliott reveals that there is more going on than has thus far met human eye..... I LOVE this series and am panting for book 5. I guess that's enough for now! :) Tessa Vaughn ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 17:25:49 +0100 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Mike Stanton Subject: Re: BDG Nomination: THE FEMALE MAN Comments: cc: ajhs@usa.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On 28 Sep 98, at 17:42, Tanya M. Bouwman-Wozencraft wrote: >< Joanna Russ _The Female Man_ ... This book is too well known to need > > > Perhaps I've been living on some other planet without > my knowledge (or maybe it's the fact that I've been > a "stay-at-home mom" for the last three years), but > this book isn't known to me at all, and I would > appreciate a summary. Sorry about that. I myself am very new to feminist sf and until a month ago I'd never heard of it either. But my mentor assured me that _The female man_ was "too well-known" amongst feminists. The comments below were taken from a posting of mine to the content_analysis list, so I apologise both for possible inappropriateness and for cross-posting. "Russ' _The female man_ is one of the so-called 'non-linear' novels that on analysis proves to be nothing of the kind. An allegory illustrating the evolution of a feminist, it's the story of four characters (or four 'facets' of the same character): Jeannine, Joanna, Jael and Janet - each living in a different universe and each defined in terms of her attitude to men, her time/space relation to the 'central' character Joanna and in her relationships with the others. Jeannine, a pre-feminist, is Joanna's earlier self who, unmarried at 28, views herself as an 'old maid'. Joanna, ostensibly a 60s-type radical feminist but in the book's context a proto-feminist, lives in a universe similar to our own. Jael (Judges 4:21), Joanna's contemporary and the 'true' feminist, is from a parallel, alternate history which is torn by gender wars. Janet, Joanna's future genetically improved self and a post-feminist, lives in a Utopian society on Whileaway, a planet without men. The four are brought together in Joanna's universe; it is their interaction and Jael's radical answer to the war with men ('The Final Solution of the Male Question') that form the book's central theme." Mike Stanton (m_stantion@postmaster.co.uk) ____________________________________________ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 15:25:13 +1000 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Julieanne * Subject: Re: BDG: Nominations In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 09:22 AM 9/29/98 -0500, Tessa wrote: >I would also like to add my voice on the nomination of Jaran by Kate >Elliott. >Someone has already talked about Jaran's interesintg gender roles. To add >to that, it's interesting what happens when the space-enabled human >population meets up with the Jaran. (..snip..) >there is the interesting gender relations of the alien race (I can't >remember the name right now, sorry). In them, women have absolutely no >power and are considered "nameless". At least, that's what Tess and every >other human believes.... In the fourth book though, elliott reveals that >there is more going on than has thus far met human eye..... I LOVE this >series and am panting for book 5. I really do have to second this nomination Tess! I *Loved* it - as you say, the twist on the gender relationships of the Alien _Chapalli_ race at the end of the fourth book blew my mind. ( Spoiler alert! ) Anyway - one of the things I enjoyed most about _Jaran_, was the aspect of a truly feminist vision which included strong believable male characters as well as women. There is action, adventure, soul-searching, discussion, conflicts, romance and exploration of not so much gender roles, but gender 'spheres of influence'. I had to laugh out loud at the image of the Jaran men returning from conquering the world with sabres and bloody wounds, then sitting down quietly at the fireside doing their embroidery, and blushing and averting their eyes as the women walk through. However,as you say Tess - the down-side for book-discussion is that much of the development takes place over several books and I too am panting for Book 5. I expected all the way through Book 4 to finish the story off and resolve all the loose ends - but, just as I thought it was all tied up - the character/plot twists at the end of Book 4 left me breathless for more:)) Julieanne ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:50:51 +0100 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Yvonne Rowse Subject: Re: BDG Nomination: Fisherman of the Inland Sea MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit This is a review I did for the Birmingham (UK) SF Group newsletter. A Fisherman of the Inland Sea by Ursula K LeGuin, Vista, 191pp, pb, £5.99 Star rating: ***** Actually I think this should probably have a six star rating: Buy this immediately and get a spare copy in case you misplace/lend out the first one. I have in fact got two copies. This is a book of short stories. Although I^Òm a long term LeGuin fan I haven ^Òt always found her short story collections to be as good as her novels. That isn^Òt to say that she doesn^Òt write good short stories. I have reread ^ÑThe Day Before the Revolution^Ò more times than I care to remember and ^ÑThe Ones who Walk Away from Omelas^Ò has been a light in my darkness but generally I have found her shorter work less satisfying. This book is so good I^Òve read it three times. The first six stories are good stories. I particularly enjoyed/loathed Jerry, the quintessential American tourist, in the first story and ^ÑNewton^Òs Sleep^Ò brought into focus my uneasiness with all the bright people flying off into adventure and leaving everyone else to die in a massive environmental failure. Most SF of this type inevitably leads the reader to identify with the leavers. Perhaps some of my unease is due to my suspicion that I^Òd be one of those left behind. As cautionary tales go this is a pretty good one. The last three stories and the largest part of the book are based around ^Ñchurten theory^Ò which allows instantaneous transportation. ^ÑThe Shobies^Ò Story^Ò starts on Hain. I^Òve long wondered how LeGuin would deal with a world that had hundreds of thousands of years of history. Brilliantly of course; ^ÓLiden was a fishing port with an eighty thousand year history and a population of four hundred^Ô where children play at space ships ^Ópassing behind the half circle of adults at the driftwood fire on the wide twilight beach.^Ô The crew of the Shoby is mixed, mixed race, mixed age. They churten to an uninhabited planet where they have to build their reality by telling their stories to save themselves from nothingness and despair. In ^ÑDancing to Gaman^Ò four Terrans churten to a planet inhabited by an apparently primitive people where one man is greeted as a god and mates with the beautiful princess. The charismatic hero lives out the fantasies of many of the men I know, wrenching the story to fit his needs. Eventually the remaining three crew find a meaning closer to reality but not before tragedy strikes. The final story, ^ÑAnother Story^Ò, is set on O. It is a love story, a time travel story and a story of another wonderful world. I^Òd like to know more of O. The hero leaves his home for studies on Hain. He leaves more than he realises knowing that his family will age while he travels. In an apparent failure of churten technology the hero returns to an earlier time and saves his life from disaster. I liked this story a lot. I liked the permanence of the society, the integration of technology into a rural life and I particularly liked the marriage/sexual relationships. LeGuin^Òs work resonates with me like good poetry. Her books are full of people I want to meet, places I want to live. Her SF is human in a way very few SF books are. If you want all-action thrillers with high technology weapons this won^Òt suit you. If you want to find unforgettable characters this is the book to buy. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 12:05:42 EDT Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Anny Middon Subject: The Lathe of Heaven Video Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Some time ago, a few people posted to this list about their desire to see the PBS made-for-TV movie of The Lathe of Heaven. I remembered having taped it, but when I went to look for it I couldn't find it and concluded I'd long since taped over it. Recently though I came across it. (Okay, both my memory and my organizational skills suck.) The quality is not too great, but it's definitely watchable. If anyone is still interested, let me know in private email and we'll set up some kind of round robin. Anny AnnyMiddon@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 10:01:16 -0700 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Jessie Stickgold-Sarah Subject: BDG nomination: Jaran Before all the people seconding this nomination scares everyone off -- I swear, the book really does end! Currently published are four books in the series, and at the end of each there are many, mnay things left unresolved (as in real life) but the first book doesn't end on a cliffhanger. She's also stated her intention to write many more books tracing out many of the lines of plot generated here. I recall reading an interview in which the author talked about a primary underpinning of her book being the idea of consequences: when you do something big, when you save the world or take over a continent, everything changes and goes on changing for generations. Also, I forgot to mention, for those who've read Alis Rasmussen's _Highroad Trilogy_: this is actually the same author, though IMHO with more richness and grace to her writing, and this series gives a look at the background of that series. jessie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:57:39 -0500 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Robin Reid Subject: CFP: Feminist SF (10-15-98; ICFA 3-17-22-99) Comments: To: cfp@english.upenn.edu, iafa-l@ebbs.english.vt.edu, h-pcaaca@h-net.msu.edu, SFRA-L@ebbs.english.vt.edu, sfuf@csd.uwm.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: FEMINIST SF ICFA 3-17-22-99 EXTENDED Proposal Deadline: 10-15-98 The 8th James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award will be awarded at the 20th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 17-22, 1999, at Ft. Lauderdale in Florida. The Tiptree is awarded for the year's best "exploration of men and women's gender roles" in SF. To mark the occasion, papers are solicited for a session or sessions on Feminist SF. The sessions may focus on literature, theory, or both. The deadline for proposals is October 12, 1998. If you are interested in participating, please send a 500-word abstract describing your project and indicating your scholarly or theoretical context to: Robin Anne Reid Department of Literature & Languages TAMU-C Commerce TX 75429 FAX: 903-886-5980 Department fax machine; please make sure my name is on the submission Email: Robin_Reid@tamu-commerce.edu Please follow up email submission with hard copy ASAP Work Phone: 903-886-5268 Possible topics areas are listed below, but this list is meant to be suggestive not prescriptive. All feminist proposals will be considered. Feminist author or authors* Feminist SF & "Race" or Ethnicity Sexual Identities in Feminist SF Feminist Utopias/Dystopias Feminism in 80's and 90's SF Feminist SF & Class Feminist SF: Different Generations Feminism in SF Film & Media * Proposals on Tiptree herself should be sent to: Sylvia Kelso, School of Language, Literature and Communication, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AUSTRALIA. E-mail (E-mail recommended, and if mailed should be date-marked no later than October 8th 1998). She is organizing the Tiptree session(s).